Cross Keys

Three Brooks Nature Reserve

Little Stoke · 5 miles

Spanning roughly 44 hectares, the Three Brooks reserve provides a network of blue-bell woodlands, ponds and a central lake within the suburb of Bradley Stoke, South Gloucestershire. The site takes its name from the Hortham, Patchway and Stoke Brooks that converge in the lake before continuing east beneath the M4 as Bradley Brook. Owned by South Gloucestershire Council, the reserve lies close to Little Stoke and incorporates the former woodlands of Webb’s, Savage’s and Sherbourne’s Brake, linked by grassland, hedgerows and water features. The surrounding town, largely built in the 1980s on former farmland, retained these natural fragments, many of which were historically managed for timber. Savage’s Wood survived as a nature reserve in the 1940s and ’50s under the stewardship of Howard Davis, a local farmer and co-founder of the Wildfowl Trust. Although Bradley Stoke Way later bisected the wood, a small remnant remains adjacent to a Tesco car park, and subsequent ash plantations were established as reparation. Today, the reserve supports reed buntings, skylarks, great crested newts, slowworms and a variety of moths, while the lake regularly attracts ducks, little grebes and mute swans; a 2014 Bio-Blitz recorded 617 species. Visitors can explore a well-surfaced system of footpaths and sign-posted cycle routes that circle the three woods and the community orchard. Recent upgrades, including stone-dust paths and a disabled gate behind the leisure centre, provide all-year access for walkers and mobility-scooter users, the latter requiring a Radar key. The Three Brooks Nature Conservation Group, open to the public, meets each first Saturday of the month to coordinate activities such as bat walks, coppicing and ditch-clearing, and the site also hosts a ‘green gym’ for volunteer work.

Aerospace Bristol

Brabazon · 6.2 miles

A collection of more than 8,000 artefacts charts over a hundred years of aviation, from early pioneers to modern jetliners, and it is housed on the historic Filton Airfield north of Bristol. The site is operated by the Bristol Aero Collection Trust and occupies two First World War-era Grade II listed hangars, one of which serves as the main exhibition space while the other functions as a workshop and storage area. A purpose-built Concorde hangar displays Concorde Alpha Foxtrot – the final aircraft of the type – alongside its Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus 593 engine, and a separate Conservation in Action workshop allows visitors to observe restoration work in progress. The exhibition is organised into seven chronological themes, presenting Bristol-built aircraft such as a Bristol Scout, a Bristol Fighter and a Bristol Bolingbroke under restoration, as well as motor vehicles, scale models and a range of piston- and jet-era engines. Highlights include a flyable replica of a Bristol Boxkite, a Sea Harrier delivered by RAF Chinook, and a representation of the Brabazon airliner’s wheels and nameplate. The museum’s development began after Concorde Alpha Foxtrot arrived in 2003, with major funding from BAE Systems and a Heritage Lottery Fund grant leading to the opening of Aerospace Bristol in October 2017. Admission requires a charge, and the venue offers step-free access for wheelchair users. Opening times are published on the museum’s listing, and the nearest town identified by mapping data is Brabazon. Facilities include the exhibition halls, the workshop viewing area and standard visitor amenities.

Canford Park

Cherry Orchards · 9.3 miles

A Victorian-era public park provides a blend of open grassland, landscaped gardens and a series of formal and informal paths within the Westbury-on-Trym neighbourhood of Bristol. Managed by Bristol City Council, the site sits beside the Canford Cemetery and Crematorium and is identified on maps as being closest to the town of Cherry Orchards. The area was laid out in 1874 by the Clifton Urban Sanitary Authority on land linked to Holy Trinity Church. When Westbury-on-Trym was incorporated into Bristol in 1903, council ownership began, the same year the neighbouring cemetery was established; a crematorium was added in 1957. Recreational facilities expanded early in the twentieth century, with a bowling green created in 1912 and the Canford Bowling Club formed a year later. A drinking fountain dated 1897, originally erected in the centre of Westbury-on-Trym to mark Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, now stands as a Grade II listed feature within the park. Visitors can enjoy a range of activities: tennis courts that form part of the Bristol Parks Tennis network, a bowling green maintained by the local club, football pitches and a children’s playground. A sunken garden and lily pond sit on the boundary with the cemetery, adding a tranquil element to the landscape. As a publicly owned space, the park is freely accessible and provides basic amenities for leisure and sport, making it a useful green resource for residents and visitors alike.

Blaise Hamlet

Catbrain · 9.3 miles

The site comprises nine modest cottages arranged around a central green in the Henbury district of north-Bristol, with Catbrain identified as the nearest settlement. Managed by the National Trust, the ensemble is presented as an open-air museum, allowing visitors to observe the layout from the surrounding garden. Dogs may accompany their owners provided they remain on a lead. Constructed circa 1811, the hamlet was intended for retired staff of Quaker banker and philanthropist John Scandrett Harford, who owned the nearby Blaise Castle House. The architect John Nash, recognised for his work in the Picturesque movement, devised the first fully realised garden suburb here, a model that influenced later developments of the type. Each cottage displays a distinct design, featuring brick chimneys, dormer windows and, in some cases, thatched roofs, all set within Victorian-style cottage gardens. The surrounding oval path links the dwellings and encircles a sundial positioned on the green. Both the cottages and the sundial hold Grade I listing, while the wider setting, together with Blaise Castle, is recorded as Grade II* on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. Although the individual houses remain occupied and are not open for interior visits, the collective arrangement can be appreciated from the green. The National Trust’s stewardship ensures the area is maintained for public viewing, with the only restriction being the requirement to keep dogs on a lead while on the premises.

Sparke Evans Park

Paintworks · 9.3 miles

Located on the northern bank of the River Avon in Bristol’s St Philips Marsh area, Sparke Evans Park offers open space beside the water and direct access from Albert Road. The park forms part of the Paintworks development in Brislington, linked by the Sparke Evans Park Bridge, and is maintained by Bristol City Council. The 1902 gift of roughly seven acres came from industrialists Peter Fabyan Sparke Evans and his brother Jonathan, who intended the land to serve the local workforce and the wider community. Early layouts included play-fields, seating and provisions for separate shelters for women, girls, men and boys, as outlined in the donors’ correspondence. During the early twentieth century, unemployment relief schemes employed hundreds of men to level the ground and improve surrounding routes, while later years saw the addition of further seating to accommodate visitors. Today the park remains free to the public, with pathways suitable for walking and areas for recreation. Its proximity to the river makes it a convenient point for casual riverside strolls, and the bridge connection provides easy pedestrian access to the adjacent Paintworks precinct. Facilities are basic but reflect the original intent of a non-political, undenominational space for the old, the young and the infirm.

Black Castle

Paintworks · 9.3 miles

A striking example of 18th-century Gothic Revival stands on Junction Road in Bristol’s Brislington suburb. Known locally as the Black Castle and also recorded as Arno’s Castle, the building holds a Grade I listing and currently operates as a public house under the Flaming Grill Pub Co. The nearest settlement identified on mapping data is Paintworks, placing the site within easy reach of the surrounding residential area. Constructed between 1745 and 55, the structure was intended as a folly but may have originally served as a stable block and laundry for the lord of the manor. Design is attributed to either William Halfpenny or James Bridges and was commissioned by factory owner William Reeve, who supplied the black copper-slag blocks from his Bristol Brass Company foundry. The façade displays symmetrical square-courtyard planning, crenellated circular corner towers and moulded two-centred archways, while decorative white flush-work panels and Y-tracery windows add Gothic detail. A coach house extends from the right-hand tower, echoing the main building’s arch motifs. Contemporary commentary from Horace Walpole in 1766 described the edifice as “coal black, and striped with white,” initially mistaking it for a “devil’s cathedral.” Reuse of freestone carving from demolished medieval gateways and St Werburgh’s Church links the castle to earlier Bristol architecture, and a 1912 relocation moved the former Arno’s Court Triumphal Arch a short distance away. Visitors can reach the Black Castle via Junction Road, with the public house offering the usual amenities of a licensed establishment. As a listed historic feature, the building remains under the care of Historic England, ensuring its preservation for future observation.